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Avast is vulnerable?

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crabby3:
Avast Internet Security seems to be vulnerable to attack and takeover** but also act like nothing is wrong.  I presume this problem would also be present with any version including the free one. Yesterday I ran this free Kaspersky scan  http://usa.kaspersky.com/downloads/free-anti-virus-scan?ICID=INT1676497 and found out Avast was somehow compromised. The firewall, and other protections, were disabled.

Needless to say I was alarmed and didn't finish the free scan. I now have Kaspersky Pure 3.0, their latest, with all the bells and whistles.

takeover** - When I uninstalled Avast I noticed the change during the restart.  The shutdown and restart was much faster/smoother.  The Kaspersky install/restart was fast and smooth as well.  And today, my startup was fast and smooth.  Adios Avast...   :(

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I know faster and smoother are relative terms but I didn't time the before and after restarts.  I would guess the shutdown went from 30 seconds to 3 and the restart, (preload to desktop) from 60 seconds to 15.  Startup the same... 60 seconds to around 15.

Renegade:
Interesting... I'll wait for a few more comments before doing anything, but I am very interested.

dr_andus:
Yesterday I ran this free Kaspersky scan  http://usa.kaspersky.com/downloads/free-anti-virus-scan?ICID=INT1676497
-crabby3 (July 07, 2014, 10:33 AM)
--- End quote ---

Can it be assumed though that these kind of "free" tools are entirely unbiased? Wouldn't it be in their interest to turn up 'false positives' about their rivals?

I'm just playing the devil's advocate. I'm scanning with Kaspersky as we speak  ;)

I also have Avast! free. I have also noticed some significant deterioration in my PC's performance over the last couple of months, and last week I also had a message from Win7 saying my antivirus is not working, even though Avast was saying everything is fine...

crabby3:
Yesterday I ran this free Kaspersky scan  http://usa.kaspersky.com/downloads/free-anti-virus-scan?ICID=INT1676497
-crabby3 (July 07, 2014, 10:33 AM)
--- End quote ---

Can it be assumed though that these kind of "free" tools are entirely unbiased? Wouldn't it be in their interest to turn up 'false positives' about their rivals?
-dr_andus (July 07, 2014, 05:06 PM)
--- End quote ---

Trust has to start somewhere.  Where do I draw the line?  Not being an IT-geek I have to rely on my gut feeling and past experiences.  My gut told me this Kaspersky scan could be a fake but it also could be real.

My past experiences with Avast helped me deside.  I couldn't remember the last time an off-line Avast scan found anything.  Plus... a few weeks ago Avast emailed me, warning that their Avast Forum servers had been hacked, saying everyones email addresses and passwords had been compromised.
I didn't mention this because it isn't relevant. This was the ONLY non-product related email I've ever gotten from Avast during the past 4 years.
If you had not joined the Avast Forum you may not have gotten this email.

False positive or not... How can I trust Avast to protect my machine if Avast can't protect my personal info on their own or 3rd-party servers?

Besides... this Kaspersky Pure has many, many more settings, compared to Avast Internet Security, that I can tweak or rollback or play with ..  ;D

p.s.  Today I noticed my Windows Mail screen came up a lot quicker, about 4 seconds and was pre-loaded with all my new emails.  Using Avast, a blank window would open and stay blank for about 10 seconds.  Clicking the top of the window would show '(not responding)'.  Another 10 seconds and the not responding would vanish.  Another 5-10 seconds the read emails would start to appear and the new emails would begin to load.

I'm not foolish enough to think my virus, malware, issue is resolved.  It's just not in control of my current AV protection.  Not yet anyway.   :)

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BTW:  Did your on-line Kaspersky scan find anything?   :tellme:

dr_andus:
BTW:  Did your on-line Kaspersky scan find anything?   :tellme:
-crabby3 (July 08, 2014, 06:40 AM)
--- End quote ---

Unfortunately I wasn't able to complete the scan because it's interfering with my work (slowing down my PC) and it seems to take more than one day to finish. I'll try to run it during the weekend and will let you know.

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